Wolverines battle, lose to Nesh in closing seconds
One of the closer games of the WPIAL week occurred at Helling Stadium with two teams looking to go above .500 on the season. Ellwood City came into play bouncing back with a solid 21-0 shutout of Shenango last week. Neshannock came into play bouncing back with a solid 42-6 victory over Union last week. Both teams battle through great defense and turnovers during the first and second half. But it was the Neshannock Lancers who were victorious taking the lead for the first time on the night and the victory over the Wolverines with just 13 seconds left in the game.
EC won the opening coin toss and deferred to the second half. Neshannock just last week went one play, 72 yards to open the scoring against the Scotties. This time four plays in a broken screen pass play Wolverine DB Tyler Smiley picked off Jino Mozzocio to set up the Wolverines with a short field. However, the Lancers defense was up to the task on fourth down, forcing the turnover on downs. EC would get the ball back after a big time sack by LB Colton Gullo on third down. the ball was then given back to the Lancers via the punt by EC, as both teams continued to trade drives with the ball.
Another big time turnover for the big time guy DT P.J. Dubois gave EC the ball back yet again. This time EC made it count, as QB Tyler Smiley ran the ball in from one yard out to make the score 6-0. PAT was good by Aden Huth to make the score 7-0 EC.
EC’s defense held tough again while the offense got the ball back with 8 minutes left in the first half. EC would double up the score on another long, timely drive capped off by the 15 yard rushing touchdown by RB Richard Cureton. PAT was good by Huth to make the halftime score 14-0 in favor of EC.
Second half saw EC special teams come onto the field fairly quickly as the Lancers defense would bounce back in the second half. EC defense would come through in the early going, stopping Neshannock in their tracks as well. However, after being plus two in the turnover department in the first half, EC would give Neshannock a couple extra possessions via interceptions. A pass by Smiley was altered after getting hit in the backfield as the ball was caught before hitting the ground by the Lancers defense. A couple plays later SR QB Jino Mozzocio rumbled into the endzone from three yards out. The PAT attempt was wide left, making it 14-6 EC.
Neshannock would quickly get another shot on offense as Smiley would be intercepted on the ensuing drive. The return by LB Ashton Allison gave the Lancers the ball back at the 10 yard line. Two plays later RB Anthony Eakin walked into the endzone to make the score 14-12. The two-point conversion pass was no good, keeping EC in front by two.
The game held in check for the remaining minute as we headed to the final frame 14-12 EC. EC got the ball back and switched things up on offense, going with the wildcat run play with QB Cameron Mills and PJ Dubois as the extra blocker.
The wildcat set up worked well to take off almost seven minutes of the fourth quarter, but led to zero points as the Lancers defense held EC on fourth down. Neshannock’s offense was looking to get the go-ahead score on the drive, but pressure from Colton Gullo made Mozzocio rush the throw to the left, ending up in the hands of LB Anthony Barberio who would intercept the ball and return it into the endzone for the score. Unfortunately, the PAT attempt was blocked to keep it a one score lead, 20-12 EC.
After the momentum swung from Ellwood to Neshannock and then back to Ellwood, Neshannock would not waste time flipping the script once more. After the ensuing kickoff, Neshannock subbed in RB Anthony Eakin with the wildcat offense of their own, making it count from 71 yards out on just one play. The two-point conversion run on the direct snap to the left by Eakin was good, making the score tied 20-20 with 4:11 left in regulation.
EC moved the ball back to the 48 yard line on the ensuing drive with the wildcat offense. This time on fourth down and two, Smiley was subbed back in and followed the blocks to the left of the line after a timeout from Ellwood City. Unfortunately the Lancers defense was up to the task and stopped EC on fourth down.
Neshannock got the ball back at the EC 48 yard line with 1:53 left in the fourth quarter. All momentum was on the side of the scarlet and grey. The leadership of the Lancers quarterback has always been talked about the past three seasons. Sure enough it continued on the night as Mozzocio would reenter the game along side the great play of Anthony Eakin to give the Lancers one more shot at the endzone with just 18 seconds to play. The RPO pass by Mozzocio split the Wolverines defenders and spiraled right into the chest of Ethan Beaman running into the endzone. The eight yard touchdown pass made the score read 26-20. The PAT attempt was blocked by DaiLonn Currie to add to the craziness of the night.
EC had one more shot with 13 seconds left, but the last second pass by Smiley attended for Currie was knocked down as the clock struck zero on the Wolverines. EC would fall in defeat 26-20 after having the 14-0 halftime lead.
Stats on the evening were balanced for both teams, with the main difference being fourth down conversions. Both teams combined 7 of 24 on third down, with 4 of those successful for EC. However, EC was 3 of 6 on fourth down while Neshannock was 2 of 2. Even though EC had more success on those downs, the 3 attempts that failed proved costly for the Wolverines chances of scoring points.
Neshannock outgained the Wolverines 254 to 206 in the yardage total, while both teams almost went for 200 rushing yards. The lone individual stat line that stood out would be RB Anthony Eakin who finished with 13 carries and 125 yards for Neshannock. He also added two touchdowns, including a big two-point conversion as well. One of the possible positives for Ellwood City during the three-game stretch is the turnover category. Ellwood City has forced 7 turnovers in those games while maintaining a neutral result in the turnover margine (7 to 7).
EC finishes non-section play 1-2 and will now look to section play that kicks off Friday night from Mohawk Stadium as they take on the Warriors on the road. Kickoff is slated for 7:00 PM with pregame on ECS starting around 6:45 PM.
2A-2 MAC RESULTS - WEEK TWO
New Brighton 38-0 Northgate
Western Beaver 41-6 Rochester
Freedom 43-16 (SAT) Summit Academy
Ellwood City 20-26 Neshannock
Mohawk 0-24 Shenango
Riverside 0-43 Laurel
Union 6-44 Washington
Beaver Falls 6-26 South Side
